Montoya, Jeremiah Z.

BSA 3A

Aristotle (384 BC 322 BC)

Aristotle's Life
Reference: http://essentialthinking.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/aristotle.jpg http://library.thinkquest.org/18775/aristotle/bioar.htm http://www.biography.com/people/aristotle-9188415?page=3

Montoya, Jeremiah Z. BSA 3A

Aristotle, one of Plato's greatest students, was born in 384 BC. Aristotle's father was a physician to the king of Macedonia, and when Aristotle was seven years old, his father sent him to study at the Academy. He was there at the beginning as a student, and then became a researcher and finally a teacher. When Plato died, Plato willed the Academy not to Aristotle, but to his nephew Speusippus. Aristotle then left Athens with Xenocrates to go to Assos, in Asia Minor, where he opened a branch of the Academy. This Academy focused more on biology than its predecessor that relied on mathematics. There he met Hermias, another former student of Plato, who had become king of Assos. Aristotle married Hermias niece, Pythias, who died ten years later. During these years in Assos, Aristotle started to break away from Platonism and developed his own ideas. King Philip of Macedonia invited Aristotle to the capitol around 343 BC to tutor his thirteen-year-old son, Alexander. In 359 BC, Alexander's father, King Philip decided to set off to subdue the Greek city-states, and left Alexander in charge, thus stopping Aristotle's tutoring of Alexander.King Philip was then murdered, in 336 BC, and Alexander then became king. In 335 BC, Aristotle returned to Athens. Speusippus had died, but Aristotle was again not given the presidency of the Academy in Athens, instead, it was given to one of his colleagues Xenocrates. So, Aristotle founded his own school this time, it was named the Lyceum, named after Apollo Lyceus. In 323 BC, twelve years after founding the Lyceum, Alexander the Great died. In Greece resentment against the Macedonia hegemony seethed and riots broke out. Aristotle was accused of impiety, and his life become in serious jeopardy. So he left Athens, and went to his late mother's estate at Chalcis on the island of Euboea. He died there in the next year, 322 BC. Philosophy One of the main focuses of Aristotles philosophy was his systematic concept of logic. Aristotles objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every conceivable thing about reality. The initial process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, states of being and actions. In his philosophical treatises, Aristotle also discussed how man might next obtain information about objects through deduction and inference. To Aristotle, a deduction was a reasonable argument in which when certain things are laid down, something else follows out of necessity in virtue of their being so. His theory of deduction is the basis of what philosophers now call a syllogism, a logical argument where the conclusion is inferred from two or more other premises of a certain form. In his book Prior Analytics, Aristotle explains the syllogism as a discourse in which, certain things having been supposed, something different from the things supposed results of necessity because these things are so. Aristotle defined the main components of reasoning in terms of inclusive and exclusive relationships. These sorts of relationships were visually grafted in the future through the use of Venn diagrams. Aristotles philosophy not only provided man with a system of reasoning, but also touched upon ethics. In Nichomachean Ethics, he prescribed a moral code of conduct for what he called good living. He asserted that good living to some degree defied the more restrictive laws of logic, since the real world poses circumstances that can present a conflict of personal values. That said, it was up to the individual to reason cautiously while developing his or her own judgment.
Reference: http://essentialthinking.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/aristotle.jpg http://library.thinkquest.org/18775/aristotle/bioar.htm http://www.biography.com/people/aristotle-9188415?page=3

Montoya, Jeremiah Z. BSA 3A

WHY ARISTOTLE? Aristotle.. Ah, one of the greatest students of Plato. This was my answer whenever someone asked me who Aristotle is. However, when I had the opportunity to know better various philosophers, the name Aristotle marked in my mind together with his best contributions in different fields of studies. Let me mention quotations from him to further expand my reasons why I chose him as one of my favorite philosophers. First, Nemo dat quod non habet translated as you cannot give what you dont have. Today it is a valid rule, particularly in business and law, which states that the purchase of a possession from someone who has no ownership right to it also denies the purchaser any ownership title. But this quote strikes to me in my own experiences in my day to day activities. For example, I want to love and be love in return but sometimes I fail to express my love to others and I take them for granted. Instances like these made me realize that I cannot show and give love if I cannot love myself first and if I cannot see my importance and value first. Another example, how can I teach others to do what is right if in the first place they cannot see in my life what I teach to them. Next, We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. I like this quote not because this applies in my life but rather I wanted to use this as an encouragement in class, in home, in workplace, etc. Maybe Aristotle applies this during his time of studying that is why he is considered to be one of the greatest students of Plato. And I admire him for what he said that no student is better than his teacher. For me, this is an act of humility and respect to his teacher. Lastly, For Aristotle, sense perceptions of similar events lead to memories, which when repeated lead to experience. Intuition is the ability to simultaneously see the universal in a particular. When I get the result of one of my major exams, it is always possible for me to have mistakes. But many times, whenever that same question or similar to that question appears to our next exam, I make sure that I know how to answer it correctly. It is because I gain experience through my mistakes. It is in how I understand these words from Aristotle. To end this, I can say to myself that if ever I am going to ask again about who Aristotle is, somehow, I could have detailed and deeper answers compared to what I know before. I now appreciate his works and theories that he left to us. Reading his teachings is enjoying, but it is best to apply the good lessons that we could learn from it. Thats the real meaning of philosophizing.

Reference: http://essentialthinking.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/aristotle.jpg http://library.thinkquest.org/18775/aristotle/bioar.htm http://www.biography.com/people/aristotle-9188415?page=3

Montoya, Jeremiah Z. BSA 3A

Reference: http://essentialthinking.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/aristotle.jpg http://library.thinkquest.org/18775/aristotle/bioar.htm http://www.biography.com/people/aristotle-9188415?page=3